Comma Press, described by The Guardian as, ‘A small but powerful champion of the short story,’ ‘is a not-for-profit publishing initiative dedicated to promoting new fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on the short story. Comma’s committed to a spirit of risk-taking and challenging publishing, free of the commercial pressures on mainstream houses.

Comma is giving five runner-ups in the Flashbang contest a copy of M.O. Crimes of Practice, published on behalf of the Crime Writer’s Association. Edited by Martin Edwards, the anthology includes stories by Robert Barnard (winner of the National Crime Short Story Prize), Ann Cleeves, Jürgen Ehlers, Kate Ellis, Jim Gregson, Sarah Hilary, Amy Myers, Christine Poulson, Yvonne Eve Walus.

“The second in this series of anthologies from the CWA picks up the primary scent of any investigation: the modus operandi; the signature that identifies any repeat offender, the ‘how’ that supersedes the ‘why’. From the ex-doctor tenderly administering a final prescription to his victims, the party of finishing school debutantes exacting revenge on their lecherous host… these stories demonstrate that, even with the most despicable of crimes, there’s methodology in the madness.”

“Packs more heat than a hoodlum’s armpit holster.” Mslexia

You can read Sarah Hilary’s review of Comma’s first CWA anthology, I.D. Crimes of Identity, over at The Short Review.